


Heartstopper

by louciferish



Series: YOI tumblr shorts [17]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Ice Adolescence (Yuri!!! on Ice), Olympics, Young Victor Nikiforov, crossposted to tumblr and twitter, no edits no beta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louciferish/pseuds/louciferish
Summary: Show us the skating you like best.Surprise them.
Relationships: Yakov Feltsman & Victor Nikiforov
Series: YOI tumblr shorts [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1116207
Comments: 15
Kudos: 74





	Heartstopper

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 日本語 available: [Heartstopper](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27913537) by [mioh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mioh/pseuds/mioh)



> So, how 'bout that trailer, huh?

“Vitya. Vitya, listen to me. Focus.”

But Victor can’t focus. He can’t possibly pull his attention away from the crowd, the screaming, the wide open arena of the Olympics all around him. It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, and his heart is pounding so loudly it drowns out the words raining down from the stands, washing the audience into waves of indistinguishable noise. 

It’s terrifying. This is the day his life begins.

“ _Victor_!”

That tone snaps his eyes back to Yakov at last. His coach’s stern face is the same as ever, and Victor clings to that. This might as well be Nationals or a Challenger event for all that Yakov’s expression indicates. Just another competition.

Not another competition, because it’s the _Olympics_ , and it’s Victor’s _first_ , and he barely made it here at all. He’d moved up to Seniors at the perfect time, as they’d planned, and then destiny had dealt him a bad hand. Five centimeters of fresh height, just in time for Nationals, and Victor had fallen from Russia Champion the previous season to fourth place. He wouldn’t even be here today, except that Georgi twisted his ankle at Euros.

Poor Georgi, stuck watching all of this from home.

Victor wrenches his attention back to his scowling coach as the crowd screams again. Weir’s scores are in. Victor is up. 

“Look, Vitya,” Yakov says, his palms resting over Victor’s atop the boards. “No one is expecting much of you today--”

“Thanks for the inspiration, Coach.”

“ _Listen_ to me,” Yakov growls, and his grip on Victor’s hands tightens. “No one expects much, so you skate without the weight of expectations. Take advantage of that. Instead, I want you to show us the skating you like best. If you do that…” Yakov’s lips curl, the slightest hint of a smile poking through his gruff exterior. “You may surprise them.”

Victor swallows, nods. They’re calling his name. With a parting squeeze to Yakov’s arm, then the head of his poodle tissue box, Victor turns and skates out to center ice. Yakov’s words replay in his head as he makes the journey.

_Show us the skating you like best._

_Surprise them._

What is the skating he likes best? Victor knows. The thought comes to him as he takes his place. It’s a risk, but where better to take a risk like that than the largest stage in the world? He believes he can do it, even if no one else does.

Victor stomps his foot, blade clicking into the ice, and feels himself begin to smile as he sets his mind toward the future. The crowd roaring around him has no idea what they’re in for. According to Victor’s planned components today, his first jump will be a triple flip.

Not anymore.


End file.
